16.45 - 18.30

Brian Walsh (United States of America)
Executive Director, Liquidnet For Good - Liquidnet For Good

Beau Seil (United States of America)
Managing Partner - Unitus Impact

Investing in Livelihoods

Investing in companies that increase incomes and improve the livelihoods of the working poor is the next frontier of impact investing. Thoughtful market-driven interventions and businesses generate wealth "with the poor" by optimizing supply chains and economic verticals. Demonstrating the scalability and commercial viability of livelihood companies can attract enormous sums of capital to the space and alter economies to help the working poor earn a sufficient livelihood for themselves and their families.

Maya Chorengel (United States of America)
Managing Director - Elevar Equity

Market Returns are Possible

Certain sectors of impact investing - for example capitalizing companies providing financial services, housing, healthcare or other essential services to low income communities - allow for "tension free" achievement of both outsized social impact and financial return. The key is to focus on customer needs and true value creation for the customer. Add to the mix exceptional, execution oriented entrepreneurs and innovative, scalable business models and you have the potential for a winning strategy. Elevar Equity's investing experience in Asia and Latin America demonstrates the possibilities.

Harlan Mandel (United States of America)
Chief Executive Officer - Media Development Investment Fund

Investing to Build a Free Press

One impact investing vertical stands out for its potential to advance fundamental human rights and social change: the financing of independent media. Timely, accurate, relevant information is critical to free societies. It enables fuller participation in public life, holds the powerful to account and protects the rights of the individual. Yet today, over 85% of the world’s citizens live in countries without a free press. Impact investing has a critical role to play in addressing this challenge, providing the capital needed by independent news media to grow and succeed as businesses.

David Wedick (United States of America)
Business Development Manager - MicroVest Capital Management

Stories from the Field: How Microfinance Became the First Risk-adjusted Scalable Impact Investment

Microfinance is commercial and scalable due to its profitable and replicable business model - Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) engage the working poor in a dignified manner by providing loans for productive purposes - MFIs need to be operated as commercial businesses to attract private capital as philanthropy cannot meet the demand for financial services in frontier emerging markets - Successfully investing in MFIs requires a specialized high-touch due diligence process to uncover value - Investments in MFIs can be pooled into diversified funds for investors, providing a range of opportunities across the risk-return spectrum (debt vs. equity, local currency vs. hard currency etc.).